An end to hard work mowing (Champion R434)

Member Name: dave_t

Product:	Champion R434
Date:	04/07/01 (2167 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Power!, Efficient grass catcher, ease of starting

Disadvantages: instructions, weight, noise

After this years first attempt at cutting the grass with my old electric mower, I decided it was time for a change. My lawn tends to be wet and clumpy, and the ground never really dries out, so I wanted a mower with a fair bit of oomph.
I scoped out the local shops, B&Q, Focus, Greatmills etc and I found the cheapest sturdy petrol mower to be the Champion R434 at £99.00
There was a slightly cheaper one, but it had a plastic deck and I didn't fancy the idea.
The Spec:
3.5 HP engine by Tecumseh - I'd not heard of them, but it runs well and starts easily, so I'm happy.
16" cut - more than adequate for my needs.
5 heights (although you have to adjust each wheel) with the lumps in my garden I never go below the second lowest or I start ploughing.
55 litre grassbox is sizeable enough and it certainly compacts the grass in there well.

It's a little unwieldy due to the size and weight, but I'm sure it's comparable to other mowers of this genre and you get used to it.

It used to take me an hour or more to do my lawns if the grass was long, but this mower doesn't hesitate. Both lawns done in 30 mins flat.

6" clumpy grass - no problem at all.

Starts without a problem, and seems to run forever on a teacup-ful of petrol.

All in all a very good mower.

Now the drawbacks:

The instructions - not as clear as I'd like for a novice petrol mower buyer.

The weight - 20 Kg or so - about par for the type of mower though.

The noise - fairly loud - But again, about par for the type of mower.

The oil filler - buy the qualcast oil with the flexi tube and it's fine - try it with a funnel and you'd have a problem as it's in an awkward position.

To sum up - Excellent value for a very capable mower and it's a nice colour too!


#############################################
Update to
opinion 8/5/02
1 year on and The mower has been out of the shed a couple of times. it has been getting harder to start - the motor not catching on the starter at all...

Took it back to focus, who got me to take it to a local mower repair shop. The repair guys assured me that it wasn't a common problem and it shouldn't reccur. 2 days later it was all repaired and running well again.

It's now starting fine, but it's not running smoothly, so I guess it needs a service and a new can of petrol. (like it said in the manual).

to sum up - it requires more maintenance than an electric mower, but I still think it's worth it.

Summary: